Recruiting the best talent is a significant undertaking that involves multiple teams and moving parts.
This step-by-step guide gives you a clear path to ensure you make the most out of the process and get the best results for your business.
Set clear expectations
Start by defining and outlining the role’s core responsibilities and essential duties. At this stage, it’s a good idea to also identify any other skills or experience that would be a bonus to the role, but not essential, to help you prioritise applicants who can add extra value.
Also identify any traits or skills that you don’t want. Think about past hires and trends to find out what won’t work in your team, so you can focus only on the most suitable candidates from the start.
Define key skills
Make a list of the job’s responsibilities and break them down into specific and measurable skills and behaviours. For example, if leadership is a key trait, start by defining what leadership looks like in your company.
Make sure the traits and skills required for the job align with your company’s values. This helps find candidates who can not only make a good fit in terms of their skills and knowledge, but also in the company’s culture.
Finally, create a framework that matches key skills with proficiency indicators. A framework provides guidance to interviewers to help them assess candidates fairly.
Find out more about qualifying and shortlisting candidates.
Create a standout job description
A good job description is engaging and showcases why your company is a great place to work. This is an opportunity to highlight what makes your company stand out in terms of its mission, values, culture and the impact of the new role. It’s also a chance to showcase how candidates can grow, so include information about career development and training or education.
Use clear and concise language (avoid jargon) to describe the role’s responsibilities. Include a call to action with clear instructions on how to apply, what candidates need to include and application deadlines.
Ensure inclusivity
Once you have a draft of the job description, check for biased language to make sure there are no gendered terms, age bias or language that could deter qualified candidates.
Think about how you can showcase your company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Describe how policies in your company support underrepresented groups and diverse hiring to widen the candidate pool. A good way to do this is by including a line like: "we value a diverse range of experiences and skills. If you don't meet all the requirements but believe you can excel in this role, please apply."
Analyse your company’s recruitment data to see where you could be more inclusive. For example, you can revise your job descriptions and outreach if you find that certain demographics are underrepresented.
Plan the interview process
Define the stages and elements of your interview process:
- How many stages it will have? For example, you can start with a screening call then assess technical skills in a second round.
- Which team members will be involved at each stage?
- What will you assess at each step?
- Prepare questions. Ensure they align with the requirements of the role and include behavioural, situational and skills-based questions.
- Decide how you’ll score candidates during the interview process by clearly defining evaluation criteria and making the scoring system standard across all interviews for fairness.
- Think of the logistics. How long will each interview take? Are they in person or virtual? Do you or the candidates need to prepare any materials for the interviews?
- Make sure all stages have a clear purpose and respect candidates’ time.
Get the interview panel ready
Hold a kick-off meeting with all the team members that will take part in the recruitment process, so everyone is aligned on the role, requirements and interview plan. Make sure everyone is clear on their role and what’s expected from them.
This is also an opportunity to make sure everyone knows what to look for in candidates’ answers and how they’ll be evaluated, so make sure to go over the competency framework.
Follow our interview process guide for more information.
Define your team’s roles
Give each of your interview team members a specific role, for example, one person can assess technical skills, another person can check cultural fit. This helps avoid any overlapping issues when evaluating candidates.
Remind your team to focus on evidence and examples from the interviews, and not subjective impressions, to avoid any biases that can affect the hiring process.
Train your team
Make sure everyone in your interviewing team receives legal and ethical training. This includes anti-discrimination laws and fair hiring practices, and helps identify any questions that are off-limits. Get in touch with our team to learn more about training resources.
Train your team in effective interview techniques, including active listening and avoiding leading questions, to ensure each interview is productive.
After each interview, discuss the process with the team and think about what worked and what you can improve for continuous improvement of your recruitment strategy.